Volvo is the premium brand with the most IIHS Top Safety Pick ratings awarded for its 2016 Model Year lineup.
The Swedish brand has the most models with a Top Safety Pick rating from IIHS out of all the premium manufacturers in the US. Every Volvo model tested by the renowned institution received the Top Safety Pick+ Award, which is arguably the highest possible distinction for safety in the US.
The ratings awarded to the safety-minded manufacturer don’t really come as a surprise. For those unfamiliar with the company's safety record, we remind you that Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin invented the three-point seat belt in 1959 and the company decided to give the patent for free just so cars in general could be safer. Who would do such a thing these days?
The Swedish company released an estimate in 2009, which said that over a million people worldwide had been saved by the three-point safety belt. Back in the 1950s, automotive safety was in its early days and drivers of the era would rarely wear the then standard two-point safety belt. Former Saab engineer Nils Bohlin discovered that the two-point belt was unsafe for automotive use because of the strains put on the pelvic area and the lack of support for the passengers' chest.
Seatbelts today have developed into an easy-to-use device to ensure safety during a car accident, and anyone who walked away unscathed from a car crash has Volvo to partly thank for that. Yet, some drivers and passengers still ignore the undisputed benefits of using the three-point seatbelt.
With recent IIHS Top Safety Pick ratings, Volvo is preparing to end a successful year on the US market. So far, Volvo sales in the USA went up by 18% in 2015, mostly thanks to the launch of the all-new XC90. Naturally, the car prides itself with an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ rating as well.
Volvo doesn't intend on settling down with its present awards and technologies and plans to make its cars so safe that no human will ever die in a Volvo made after the year 2020.
Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland. Full profile
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